A few months before the peak summer travel season, many travel companies simultaneously launched hundreds of domestic tours to take advantage of the market recovery. Travel businesses are trying to stabilize product and service prices in the context of rising input costs.
Domestic tourism situation summer 2022
According to Ms. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, Marketing Director of Vietravel Tourism Company, the number of customers registering for domestic tours this summer has reached 65% of the plan. The popular destinations are Phu Quoc, Da Nang - Hoi An - Hue - Quang Binh, Hanoi - Sa Pa - Ninh Binh - Ha Long, Quy Nhon - Phu Yen, Da Lat,...
"Compared to the pre-pandemic period in 2019, this year's summer visitors reached about 80%, mainly domestic. However, in the context of high gasoline prices, the company still strives to stabilize tour prices," Ms. Van Khanh shared. In addition, thanks to the advantage of having its own airline Vietravel Airlines, the company is capable of operating full packages by air.
Saigontourist Travel Service Company expects to serve more than 280,000 visitors this summer. According to Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Tra, Director of Marketing and Communications, this number fluctuates and may increase by 10%-15%.
Summer tourism 2022 has many improvements.
"As expected, purchasing power and the number of visitors have increased very high, with the most crowded destinations being Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Da Nang, Quy Nhon - Phu Yen, Ha Long... Only counting domestic tourism, the number of visitors increased by nearly 10% compared to 2019, although considering the total number of domestic, foreign and international visitors, it has not reached the pre-pandemic level," said Ms. Thanh Tra.
According to the survey, the price of summer tour services on some "hot" routes has increased slightly by 5% - 7%. For the remaining routes, most travel companies and transportation, accommodation and sightseeing units are coordinating with each other to keep prices stable. By the end of the second quarter of 2022, Fiditour - Vietluxtour Travel has achieved about 60% - 70% of the summer business plan. If the situation continues to be positive, the business will increase the plan.
"Tourism is booming in the domestic market this summer. According to Flamingo Redtours' statistics, the number of domestic tourists this summer increased by 300% compared to 2019 (before the pandemic). For resorts in the system, room occupancy reached 90% on weekdays, and the number of MICE (tourism combined with conferences) guests increased by about 500% compared to before the pandemic," said Mr. Nguyen Cong Hoan, Deputy General Director of Flamingo Holding Group.
Beware of scams
Talking about the scams of cheap tours and travel vouchers that have appeared quite a lot recently, Mr. Nguyen Minh Man, Director of Communications and Marketing of TST tourist Company, commented that in the context of high fuel costs and input costs as present, keeping tour prices stable or slightly increasing is an effort of the business, so there is no need to reduce prices too much to stimulate tourism demand like before.
"Because tour prices increase with the price of gasoline and airfare, tourists tend to travel independently. However, when every destination is crowded, traveling independently is quite risky for tourists because they may arrive but not be able to book a service or may be scammed because at the moment there are no cheap prices," said Mr. Minh Man.
Another problem that also gives tourism workers a headache is maintaining service quality, avoiding "overcharging", price gouging, and overcrowding at tourist destinations. Because, in reality, there have been many cases where customers have reported being overcharged, "overcharged", or poor service quality, causing an ugly image for the tourism industry.
Tour price does not reduce, tourists beware of fraud.
For example, in Nha Trang City (Khanh Hoa Province), the City People's Committee has just fined Ngoc Phu Restaurant (Vinh Nguyen Ward) VND21 million, which was accused by tourists of "overcharging" them for 3 portions of beef stir-fried noodles for VND600,000. Mr. Phan Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman of Nha Trang City People's Committee, affirmed that the city government is always interested in building Nha Trang into a quality, safe, secure, civilized and friendly destination.
"Any incident that affects the tourism brand of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa will be investigated and handled. The recent heavy fine against Ngoc Phu restaurant, as well as some previous violations, are proof," said Mr. Liem.
In Ca Mau, Mr. Tran Hieu Hung, Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the province, affirmed that up to now, the department has not received any feedback from customers about the situation of "ripping off" tourists. Because, "posting prices - selling at the correct listed price" is one of the regulations that tourism service establishments in the area must follow.
